A woman holding a Banner Flex to protect from rain while riding on motorcycle in the Provincial Capital
A large number of people in a queue to collect free flour bags distributed by Government in connection with the Ramadan package at Argenton Road
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, Miss Shaza Fatima Khawaja while speaking at an event organized by British High Commission’s REMIT programme
National Productivity Organization (NPO) CEO Alamgir Chaudhry is addressing the seminar, organizing Ministry of Industries & Production, Government of Pakistan at Local hotel
Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial along with Supreme Court’s honorable Judges Justice Yaya Khan Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazahr, Chief Justice Balochistan High Court Naeem Afghan and BHC’s judges group photo at Supreme Court Registry’s new established building
Information Secretary PPP Sindh Aajiz Dhamrah addressing at the 5th death anniversary of PPP MNA Muhammad Ayaz Soomro at local Hotel
Mauritius embassy marks 55th Independence anniversary
ISLAMABAD, Mar 20 (APP): Mauritius High Commissioner to Pakistan Rashidally Soobadar on Monday commemorated the 55th anniversary of Independence Day and 31st Mauritius Republic Day here at a local hotel.
The ceremony was commemorated by playing national anthems of both countries, which was also attended by the Dean of the diplomatic corps H.E. Mr Atadjan Novlamov, Additional Secretary Africa Mr Javed A. Umrani.
Speaking on the occasion Rashidally Soobadar lauded the deeply rooted cordial relations of both countries and said, today Mauritius is a safe and secure country, as it is one of the most peaceful countries on the African continent.
He also thanked prominent personalities, diplomats, and excellencies and special thanks to the Deputy Head mission and staff for organising this event in a peaceful manner.
The high commissioner also highlighted the significance of independence and cherished the value of freedom, Mauritius has changed the whole destiny of the island in a short span of time, he added.
On the occasion, his excellency offered sympathies with all the victims of natural calamities in Turkey, Syria and flood in Pakistan.
He also shed light on the achievements since independence on 12 March 1968. Mauritius values peace, security, law and order, good governance, accountability, accessibility and rule of law.
He said Mauritius offers tourism expertise to exploit the untapped potential of the sector, saying he believed it can significantly contribute to the national economy.
Mauritius has a strong road infrastructure and standard hotels quality transport was also vital to facilitate and attract tourists.
He said the entire world was facing a difficult time and despite severe lockdowns due to Covid-19, Mauritius’ economy was recovering gradually from these financial constraints.
Techlift Boot camp launched to train IT graduates: IT minister
ISLAMABAD, Mar 20 (APP): Federal Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque on Monday said the ministry had launched Techlift Boot camp to impart world class trainings to around 4,000 IT graduates.
Addressing the graduation ceremony of Boot Camp, he said that the training of the IT graduates was being offered by the Pakistan Software Export Board, Pakistan Software House Association and 21 leading tech companies.
Syed Amin Ul Haque said that Pakistan’s population boasted an enormous potential for young people, with more than two-thirds of the population under 30 years of age. “This demographic presents a unique opportunity for growth and development if we can harness their talents and channel them in the right direction.”
In pursuit of our objective to increase IT exports, he said the ministry had collaborated with both public and private sector stakeholders to set a goal of 100 percent growth in the coming years. “Achieving this target requires skilled youth trained in the latest technology trends to meet the demands of the market,” he added.
He said the industry-driven boot camp programme, funded by the government, was specifically designed to provide the latest technology training to the youth, making them competitive in the job market with an impressive 80 percent employability rate.
The minister said the boot camp programme had a target to train and recruit 4000 eligible graduates for software industry roles. The programme’s international quality curriculum, designed by IT companies, would ensure that trainees were prepared for successful careers in tech.
“The program was started on May, 2022 and about 1800 IT Graduates successfully completed their Training session and awarded certificates on this occasion while the remaining 2200 Graduates will complete their training by June, 2023”, he noted.
Haque said that this innovative programme aimed to accelerate the growth of Pakistan’s IT sector and keep pace with the rapid technological advancements worldwide.
He said the curriculum was tailored to meet the needs of the industry and designed by IT companies, focusing on emerging technologies to provide trainees with hands-on experience based on real-world scenarios and market needs.
He said the success of Pakistan’s economy was intricately tied to the growth of the tech industry, and “I firmly believe that these graduates will play a pivotal role in driving innovation and growth in the country.”
Rapid population growth creating demographic challenges in Pakistan: Samina Alvi
KARACHI, Mar 20 (APP): The First Lady Begum Samina Alvi, on Monday, terming population explosion as one of the biggest challenges faced by Pakistan stated that if measures were not taken to control the population of the fifth most populous country in the world it would grow to 360 million by 2050.
The first lady, while addressing the opening session of Population Research Conference 2023 at the Institute of Business Management (IBM), said that rapid population growth creates demographic challenges like the urbanisation, densely populated cities and paucity of resources.
It worsens the situation further for people living below the poverty line and their access to proper education, food, shelter and health facilities ebbed away, she observed and suggested “The social and economic strain caused by overpopulation can be alleviated, in part, by investing in women’s empowerment and, in particular, girls’ education.”
Samina Alvi further mentioned that there was lack of awareness regarding contraceptive methods and women especially in the rural areas were unaware of it while in some parts of the country different reasons obstruct women’s access to contraceptive methods.
The first lady said that every year there were approximately 9 million pregnancies recorded in Pakistan and out of them fifty per cent were unintentional pregnancies which result into an increase in population, maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate.
Samina Arif Alvi appreciated IBM for its work on such an important topic of population growth in Pakistan and said that it was wonderful that IBM was conducting research on topics like fertility planning, maternal and child health, population growth, climate change and social inclusion because it is need of the hour.
She also requested the administration to share the results of the research with relevant stakeholders so that adequate steps can be taken to solve this problem.
AJK President calls for more vibrant role of diaspora to highlight Kashmir dispute
ISLAMABAD (AJK), Mar 20 (APP): Azad Jammu Kashmir President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry on Monday called upon overseas Kashmiris to rise above their party interests and play their due role in highlighting the Kashmir dispute before the world.
He was talking to the visiting Kashmir Peace Forum International delegation, which called on him under the leadership of the forum’s President Barrister Karamat Hussain at the Jammu Kashmir House in Islamabad, according to the AJK President’s office.
The leader of the delegation, Barrister Hussain, briefed the President about his organization’s performance and efforts to highlight the issue of Kashmir in the UK.
Kashmir Peace Forum International, the AJK President said, was a platform that could be used to raise the Kashmir dispute effectively at the global level and draw world attention towards the human rights violations being committed by the Indian occupation forces deployed in the length and breadth of the valley.